Food processing has been labelled as the evergreen industry due to its massive influence and relevance in the Indian development sector. As observed, the food processing industry is an endless and multifaceted venture. According to a recent report, India’s food processing market may touch 470$ billion by 2025 from $263 billion in 2020, an increase of more than $200 billion in five years. Tier-II and tier-III cities could replicate the evident trend in metropolitan areas, buying more processed food in the years to come. To add, with the pandemic restraining mobility and limiting people to look for alternatives like processed and packaged foods. Consequently, the food processing and food technology industry is growing comprehensively and hence, skilled professionals and manpower are in great demand.

The food sector offers new yet bright career opportunities for the millennials and GenZ. In order to work in the food processing industry an aspirant has to learn and acquire in depth knowledge about the subject. The food industry encompasses food processing, analysis, packaging, preservation, storage, distribution, storage management, right up to the customer end.

Challenges:

India is the one of the largest producers and consumers of foods like fruits and vegetables including pulses, milk, tea, and all spices. And yet, India encounters the problem of lack of able skilled personnel, limited ventures, losses in the food sector overall.

Despite a staunch customer base, the food industry is experiencing exceptional challenges in production, demand and regulations arising from consumer tendency. Consumer requirements and priorities have changed over recent years. An increasing emphasis by end users on quality, health, supply, sustainability and freshness has put considerable pressure on the food industry to innovate. Maintaining safety standards while cutting on wastage is another challenge to be adhered to.

Need for a program focusing on Food Technology:

Contemplating the all important post-harvest processing, India needs to develop skilled and technically sound manpower for achieving the stipulated targets. Sustained food security, safe food supply across levels, reduced wastage and economic growth of farmers are some of the primary targets of the sector. With this fact, an aspirant with BTech and MTech in Food Technology has immense scope and career opportunities for being employed, or becoming an employer.

Scope of Food Technology:

Food Technology is an interdisciplinary branch of science that equips and educates the students with exhaustive knowledge about the nitties and gritties of the food industry. The food industry comprises production, processing, packaging, supply, storage, physical, chemical, biological and nutritional properties of foods. Along with that new advancements and drivers in the domain of Food Technology are also deeply interconnected with developments in consumer trends. Coping up with the market demands, food policies, innovative methods for nutritional enrichment, designing innovative methods are some other consumer trends. And hence, to comply with the new and improved realm of the food industry, a large talent pool will be required. The task of food technologists is to enhance the correlation between food and health which leads to a healthy life.

After gaining higher education in Food Technology, one can seek employment opportunities in both private and public sectors. Private sector includes food processing and manufacturing industries like beverage industry, ready-to-eat (RTE) , ready-to-cook (RTC) snack product industry, baking and confectionery industries, dairy products, meat industries, spice processing industries, and food-based research and development institutions. On the public sector front, there is a great scope in the government sector and regulatory bodies, both nationally and internationally.

In India the food processing industry is gaining impetus as the consumer foods sector is on the brink of an unparalleled rise and has compelled the need for efficient and skilled manpower.

Keeping this in mind, Avantika University Ujjain, has introduced BTech in Food Technology that offers education and training on the basis of project-based-learning, closely related to practice. The program is designed to scale up the perception of various properties of food and beverages including engineering, nutritional, physical chemical etc. Avantika offers an all-inclusive UG program that equips the students with know-how of the food industry and makes them capable for top positions.

On completing graduation, the aspirants will also have developed ample additional skills to plan, setup and manage entrepreneurship in the food industry domain. Other benefits include transfer of research-based knowledge to users, farmers, food and beverage industries, and government agencies to increase the availability, quality, and safety of our food supply, providing a healthy and sufficient supply of food.